


The Treasure Hidden In The Leaves

by Gilberrts



Category: Naruto
Genre: Found Family, M/M, collection of tropes i love, dorky edgelord sasuke, foxes are cute alright, kakashi just got thrown in the deep end of parenting, naruto is basically a woodland creature, sakura being a chakra powerhouse, sakura without a crush on sasuke, ”i guess im your dad now”
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-07
Updated: 2019-04-24
Packaged: 2020-01-06 14:24:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18390191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gilberrts/pseuds/Gilberrts
Summary: There’s something in the forest. Something mischievous and light hearted, yet profoundly lonely.





	1. Sakura

**Author's Note:**

> SAKURA’S first crush was exhilarating, but it has nothing on the rush of pure adrenaline a fight promises.

It was always the return trips that bored Sakura to tears. Today was no exception.

“Ugh, I hope we get some interesting missions soon, before my muscles atrophy from disuse.” Unseemly as it was to say, Sakura missed combat. An itch had settled under her skin, one that could not be satisfied by training, only the pulse-pounding adrenaline that came with a fight. Of course, such violent things weren’t at all appropriate for the demure young lady she’d been raised as. However, she’d lately found that the more time she spent as a shinobi of Konoha, the less she cared about keeping up the appearance of the respectful maiden. 

Meanwhile, Sasuke grunted an agreement, drawing Sakura’s attention back to the two companions walking alongside her.

At one point, she would’ve been delighted to merely have Sasuke agree with her, just like how she’d been ecstatic to be on his genin team, unique for consisting of just two students and one teacher. However, not even the strongest schoolgirl infatuation could stand up to the realities of being his partner in ninja-hood. His long silences that she had once found so cool turned out to be a result of extremely stunted social skills, not stoicism. And while he may have been incredibly talented, it didn’t make him any less of a pain in the ass to work with. And no matter how pretty/handsome he was, it didn’t change the fact that he was a sweaty, awkward, fourteen year old boy.

Despite this, Sakura found him a capable shinobi, whose strengths balanced out her weaknesses and vice versa. She considered herself his friend, perhaps the only one he had.

“Don’t be greedy,” drawled their teacher and squad leader, the lazy and eccentric Kakashi Hatake. “You should count yourselves lucky you get to even leave the village walls, considering that stunt you pulled in the Land of Waves.”

That was…a fair argument. They’d collected more than their fair share of injuries fighting off that mob of hired cronies, after refusing to abandon the mission. Tsunade had been furious with all three of them. 

“That wasn’t our fault,” said Sasuke sulkily. 

“Was too.” Kakashi didn’t bother to even turn his single gray eye on the boy.

“Was not.” Sasuke was as stubborn as a boulder, one of the many things that stopped him from being proper boyfriend material.

“Was too.” Additionally, Sakura suspected that their immature teacher enjoyed antagonizing him.

“Was not,” he repeated, a bit more forcefully.

“Was too,” was the singsong reply. 

“Was not!” 

“Was too times ten.” 

“Was not ti-“ Sasuke froze, coming to the mortified realization of how stupid the entire discussion was. “…whatever.”

His pale face was flushed entirely red with embarrassment. While Kakashi was able to hide his amusement behind his mask, Sakura had to clap a hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter. 

Possessing a sixth sense, Sasuke whipped around, a murderous expression on his face. Luckily, all he saw was Sakura stretching with her hands on the back of her head. She coughed, trying her best to look innocent. 

“It may be boring, but at least it’s nice out,” she commented. It wasn’t a lie. The air was dry and just moderate enough not to be uncomfortably warm. Fall was still a month or two away, but some of the trees were already turning yellow, creating a nice ambience.

Sasuke grunted, willing to let the matter drop. 

“It’s better than the bullshit humidity we’ve had to deal with all summer,” he conceded. 

“Language,” chided their teacher.

“Oh, come on,” groaned Sasuke, throwing his hands up in exasperation. He was most animated when annoyed, oddly enough. “How old do you think I am?” 

“Too young to pretend you’re a crude old man,” was the blithe reply.

“He’s absolutely right,” said Sakura, nodding her head. Sasuke whipped around, incredulous. 

“You’re on _his_ side? What the hell?” 

“Hey! You better watch your damn mouth before I scrub it out with soap,” she threatened. She could practically hear her teammate grinding his teeth.

“Mm-hm.” Kakashi nodded sagely, drawing his student’s glare.

“Oi. How come you don’t chew Sakura out for cursing?” 

“Hmm.” He acted as if he was thinking hard. “It fits her character better for some reason.”

“What?” 

He sounded horrified, and Sakura couldn’t help but laugh.

“What are you giggling at, Forehead?”

Sakura gasped, hand flying to her brow. Apparently, he’d overheard Ino’s mockery, which was only somewhat mean-spirited. They’d become much better friends again since Sakura had fallen desperately _out_ of love with Sasuke. In the present, her eyes narrowed at the slight.

“What’s it to you, Duck-Butt?”

Sasuke’s entire face scrunched up, and his mouth opened, presumably to let loose an equally mature retort. However, he ended up thinking better of it and turned away. 

“Whatever,” he muttered. “This is so fucking stupid.”

“Language!” 

By the time Sasuke tired himself out chasing Kakashi with a katana, the sun had gotten low in the sky. Their teacher watched it hang just above the tree line, one foot resting on Sasuke’s prone form.

“Well, I’d say it’s about time we called it a day. What do you think, Sakura? Sasuke?”

“Sounds good,” she said cheerily. Sasuke groaned something that was probably more related to the weight on his back than any feelings he had on the matter. Kakashi removed it, and the boy got up and started brushing himself off. Behind his mask Kakashi smiled. Sakura didn’t know how she could tell, but she could.

“We can stop by the river to wash up. You two stink something awful.” He pinched his nostrils shut over his mask dramatically. 

“Hey!” Sakura didn’t do something as undignified as sniff herself, but it was a near thing. 

“I’m worried the stench is going to permanently damage my sense of smell. Tell me Sakura, how do you want to be responsible for ruining my career?”

“I bet you don’t smell like a bed of roses either after running around in black from head to toe. Your B.O. probably stinks worse than rotting meat,” she threw back. Kakashi reeled back in mock affront.

“Excuse you. I’ll have you know that your teacher doesn’t sweat. When it’s hot, my pores emit a refreshing breeze that smells of childhood memories.” 

“You’re not funny, you know,” said Sasuke, as deadpan as possible.

“I’m hilarious,” he replied, equally straight-faced.

Conversation continued in this vein all the way to the riverside. There, they made camp for the night, consisting of little more than a fire surrounded by their bedrolls. Since they were within Konoha territory, they could probably afford to be lax with security, but they chose not to take any chances. Sakura thoroughly searched the area for chakra signatures and, finding none, helped Sasuke set up a few basic traps on the perimeter. He was much better with ninja wire and projectile weapons in general compared to her, a fact Sakura could admit without shame. He had a knack for visualizing trajectories she just didn’t have, just as he didn’t have nearly the same amount of chakra control as her, leading to their current division of labor. Meanwhile, Kakashi didn’t lift so much as a finger to assist, pretending to be engrossed in his dirty romance novel. However, Sakura could see the movement of his single dark eye, watching over them and double checking their work.

When they finished, he didn’t put down the stupid book, instead remaining reclined on his bedroll.

“Good job,” he said in his apathetic monotone. “Sasuke, go bathe. Sakura, you’re next once he gets back. After that, it’s lights out, no exceptions. I’m beat, and I won’t have you two keeping me up with your teenage gossiping.”

The two supposedly gossip-prone teens shared a look. Rather, it was less of a look and more of a telepathic communication between two individuals united under a common goal. Sasuke turned back to him, doing his best to seem nonchalant, apathetic.

“When are you going to wash up?”

“I’m not. I’m worried a couple of kids will try to peep on me if I do.”

His students froze, caught in the act. At first, it had only been an offhand comment between teammates eating post-training ramen. _What does Kakashi look like under his mask?_ Then, it had become something of a small obsession, a mission undertaken whenever opportunity struck.

“And if they happen to see me in the buff, I’ll get accused of exposing myself to children and arrested for sexual harassment.”

“It’s already sexual harassment for you to read your trashy porn in public,” muttered Sakura. 

“It’s not trashy, it’s literature! Right, Sasuke?” he asked the boy’s retreating back, halfway to the river already.

When her turn came, Sakura was relieved to find the water clear and the current not too strong. The air was still warm enough that the cool water was refreshing rather than uncomfortable. All in all, she found that Kakashi was capable of making good decisions once in a while. Unfortunately, he was also right about her clothes reeking of sweat. Sakura could usually ignore this sort of thing as part of the shinobi lifestyle, but they still had at least two days travel left to Konoha. Luckily, she had a pair of loose cotton shorts and tee shirt that folded up into a small enough ball that it didn’t encumber her on treks. She washed her dress in the clean water and wrung it out the best she could. It would be wrinklier than an old lady’s forehead in the morning, but at least it would be somewhat neutral in smell. The last thing she did before turning in for the night was drape the fabric over a bit of wire strung between two trees. She slept like the dead, dreamless and still. It was a good thing they were so deep in friendly territory, because it would take no less than a bucket of water being thrown on her to wake her. 

The chakra that woke her up two or three hours later was more like being tossed in a freezing lake. It wasn’t necessarily cold or sinister in nature, but she noticed it almost immediately.  Different chakras were as distinctive as fingerprints or speech patterns to Sakura. Whether it was like that for everyone, she was a bit scared to ask, for fear that she was doing it wrong.

She knew her teammate’s defining traits well, having sensed them in relaxation as well as battle. Kakashi’s chakra was a low buzzing of electricity held tightly to his body, the only indication the faint aura of static electricity around him. Sakura privately theorized that was why his hair stood straight up at all times, an amusing thought. Despite the expertly controlled aura, Kakashi’s chakra held great potential. It could explode with energy at a moment’s notice, that faint buzzing becoming the crackling of lightning sparking off of him. To be too close to him like that felt a bit like sticking her thumb in an electrical socket.

Sasuke was entirely different. His chakra was never restrained, all his emotions and intensity shown for anyone who knew how to look. His was a burning fire that never ran out of fuel, she found. In his rage it roared to new heights, searing all who came near. His annoyance crackled and spit up ash. In rare cases, his fire burnt fierce but content. It was usually only like that with his brother and, Sakura was proud to say, with his team.

The presence she felt some time past midnight was nothing like that. It was a breeze that swept subtly and sweetly through the air, tickling under her nose. Playful, laughing brightly without making a sound.

In a totally obvious and unninjalike move, Sakura bolted upright in her bedroll. While it immediately destroyed any pretense of unconsciousness, her sudden move caught the new presence off guard.

The thing that stood out first was the eyes. They glowed in the dark, no visible pupils. It was like seeing a cat outside late at night, only a million times worse because this being’s intentions and capabilities were a complete mystery. She could see the vague shape of it, humanoid and crouched a bit, making it difficult to judge size. It was at the very edge of their clearing, mostly cloaked in shadow. The clearest thing the moonlight touched was, as far as Sakura was concerned, the most important thing. Her dress, wrinkled and dragging slightly on the ground from where it was held. 

The intruder froze, and for a moment, so did Sakura. Neither dared to move even to breathe. The tension between the adversaries rose exponentially, an elastic being stretched tighter and tighter. It had to snap, as inevitable as blinking. Sakura wasn’t sure which of them closed their eyes first, her or the thief. All she knew was that the second they did, all hell broke loose.


	2. Sasuke

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lately, SASUKE has come to the conclusion that his teammates are a couple of assholes. Why, then, does he feel so at ease around them? Furthermore, why does he feel that it’s impossible to let this latest mystery go?

Sasuke usually slept restlessly when out on missions, or outside of their house at all, really. In the shinobi world, it’s difficult to feel safe enough to sleep peacefully on a mission. Anyone who does manage to do it is probably a reckless idiot, like Kakashi, who had the gall to wear earplugs even in enemy territory. 

Despite being a light sleeper, it was still a very unpleasant awakening when Sakura dropped her right foot (and half her body weight) on his abdomen. He was awake in an instant, in pain and unable to breathe, only to come face to face with Sakura. Her long hair was a mess from bed head, returned to the naturally spiky state she secretly loathed. Like her hair, her expression was more than a little wild. Her teeth were bared in what might’ve been mistaken fwdqor a grin, if you were stupid. Really, it was more like an animal showing its fangs before the kill. Her green eyes were filled with fire, a determination borne of her extraordinary temper. Though her elemental affinity was aligned with grounding, unyielding earth, her rage blazed hotter than anyone would expect of her. Even so, her intense true personality was highly preferable to the part of the blushing schoolgirl she’d played in their academy days. That had been an annoying facade, even if the girl herself hadn't seen it as one.

Sasuke wasn’t scared of her, because Uchihas don’t get scared (or at least his brother didn’t, and he was the only other Uchiha out there), so he met her gaze head-on.

“Get your weapons. We’re going hunting.”

Sasuke seriously doubted she was talking about an animal. So obviously, he followed her command because of curiosity, not any fear of her wrath.

His teammate moved through the woods faster than he had ever seen outside of combat. He guessed that she was focusing chakra in her legs, a trick Sasuke couldn’t do without accidentally paralyzing his muscles for a minimum of fifteen minutes. As painful as it was to admit even in his own mind, he was almost having difficulty keeping up.

Then, just as quickly as she ran, she stopped, so suddenly that her companion overshot and ended up a few yards ahead of her. They were in a moonlit clearing, a sky full of stars overhead. Sasuke had the sudden irrational fear that this was an elaborate attempt at a romantic rendezvous. Thankfully, he quickly realized that that was a ridiculous thought.

“Are you going to tell me what’s going on here, or should I keep guessing?” he asked, equal parts surly and sarcastic.

“Shut up,” she hissed, more venomous than a rattlesnake. Sasuke decided it was in his best interests to comply, but grunted in response just to let her know the silence was his idea.

Sakura closed her eyes and assumed a look of intense but steady concentration, letting him know she was doing that freaky chakra sensing technique. Only, Uchihas don’t use the word “freaky” because it’s undignified. A few quiet seconds in which even the cicadas seemed to go silent, and Sakura made her move. She whipped a knife across the clearing with a motion almost too quick to see. 

Sasuke heard the thunk of metal meeting wood, indicating that either Sakura’s aim or her chakra sensing was too imprecise to find the target.

Luckily, it didn’t matter much.

There was a shout/squeak of distress, one that came from the figure that toppled out of the tree. Sasuke barely caught a glimpse of it, a streak of tan skin and red cloth that fell into a clump of bushes.

“Got you!”

Sakura ran to the spot, with Sasuke hot on her heels. Though he wouldn’t admit it, Sakura’s hunt had turned out to be highly intriguing.

But when they arrived at the bush, no mysterious figure awaited them. A thorough rustling in the brush revealed only dead leaves decaying in a pile.

“I didn’t even see it run away.”

“Aren’t Uchihas supposed to have good vision?”

“Shut up.”

Even after awakening the sharingan under stress in The Land of The Waves, Sasuke couldn’t even call upon it reliably (ever), let alone use it properly. Of course, he kept his impatience with this lack of progress a secret, because Uchihas are always calm, and don’t throw tantrums. Not even if they’d been training alone for weeks and weeks to prove to their older brother that they weren’t just dead weight to take care of. Not even if they had nothing to show for it, not even if they felt like screaming at the unfairness of it all, and had to spar with Sakura or Kakashi until he couldn’t feel his damn limbs just to avoid reducing half the forest to mulch out of frustration. Because Uchihas are patient, unparalleled prodigies with perfectly functioning sharingans.

Luckily, Sakura skated past that sore patch without a second thought. Of course, she had another task to focus on.

“Maybe they tunneled underground like Kakashi can. Quick, look for overturned dirt.”

It seemed plausible, considering that stealth was typically a ninja’s main prerogative, and there were a million ways to accomplish it. Though, whether their target was a ninja remained to be seen. For a foreign shinobi to be so deep in what was generally known as Konoha land was strange. To some, it could be construed as an act of aggression. Of course, that was only if the trespassing individual was a shinobi. It was quite possible that their target wasn’t so much as a genin, let alone a trained infiltrator. Yes, they were quick, and either clever or lucky enough to bypass Sasuke’s traps, but that was it.

With Sasuke caught up in his thoughts and Sakura caught up in her search for molehills, they almost didn’t notice what was happening behind them. It was only the edges of the smoke cloud that caught their attention.

Sasuke spun around, just able to see the disguising illusion drop, revealing a human where there had only been a pile of leaves. He corrected his earlier assessment: this had to be a trained enemy ninja.

He caught a glimpse of shaggy, long blond hair hanging down their opponent’s back as they tiptoed away. He wondered what the enemy’s orders were. Were they one pawn in an attack on the village, a surveyor scoping out the battleground, or an assassin aiming to kill Lord Fifth in her sleep? Sakura had the answer. She pointed at the red, red fabric clenched in the blond’s hand.

“Give me my dress back, you damn pervert!”

Sasuke had come to realize that while stealth was the specialty of most ninjas, it was not Team Seven’s. Sakura shouting at the top of her lungs only confirmed that.

The ‘pervert’ jumped at the noise and bolted like they’d been smacked with a cattle prod. The chase began anew, though the distance between predator and prey was shortened significantly. The mysterious figure was within view, the shifting curtain of hair only occasionally illuminated by moonlight through the branches.

Sasuke’s body was dead tired from a long day’s travel, and scarcely two hours of sleep had hardly reversed that. And yet, he could not imagine slowing down. The mysterious dress thief was almost within reach, and Sasuke didn’t even think of letting him run away. Uchihas don’t do things halfway, after all. Sakura was of a similar mind. Unfortunately, the three of them were of the same speed, with Sasuke’s base natural ability, Sakura’s chakra molding, and the blond hampered by the dress they didn’t seem to know how to hold out of the way.

“Stop dragging it!” Sakura was a bit out of breath from maintaining the high speed, which was a bad sign, considering that Sasuke probably wouldn’t last much longer than her. They needed help, or explosives at the very least. As much as it pained him to even think, they probably should’ve woken… _ him _ up.

“If you two were planning on doing something this exciting, you should’ve invited me,” drawled a low voice.

As if summoned by arcane means, a lanky scarecrow loomed at the edge of another clearing. His hair stood straight up like he’d recently jammed his tongue in an electrical socket, which was unfortunately his usual look rather than something one could blame on bed head. 

Though he wasn’t looking forward to the lecture they would receive later, Sasuke was somewhat grateful for Kakashi’s appearance. With his assistance, they would finally be able to capture and interrogate their thief.

Said thief wasn’t slowing down at all, clearly gearing up to fight their past the older shinobi. Though this presented danger, Sasuke couldn’t help but be intrigued. The thief had only run from them and displayed an extremely competent disguise illusion, and hadn’t deployed any offensive measures. How would they attack? Would they use elemental techniques? Advanced hand to hand? Were they armed?

Whatever the case may be, Kakashi was in place, ready to stop whatever came his way in its tracks. He was ready for anything.

It was impossible to be ready for what came next.

One second, the figure was running, obscured by hair and shadow. The next, there was a woman. To clarify: there was an objectively attractive adult woman with radiant skin hidden only by a few extremely narrow clouds. Her breasts were full and high on her chest. The skin of her abdomen was taut and slightly muscled, just like her sculpted thighs and subtly bouncing ass. Her sunflower yellow hair, the only part that bore any resemblance to the true form, was pulled into high twin tails. Frankly, Sasuke thought they were more immature than sexy, but it wasn’t like it mattered.

The woman clasped her hands together as if in prayer, faced towards Kakashi. This also had the effect of pressing her cleavage together and upwards. Her voice was not overly high, but the syllables were definitely strained by her pleading tone.

“Please, help me! I’m  _ so _ scared,” she called out.

Sasuke felt his lip curl at such a ameteur attempt at seduction. Did this thief expect such a crude disguise to affect them? Kakashi was a trained ninja with years of experience, and Sakura was a woman herself. This childish attack would be completely ineffective. At best, it only would momentarily catch them off guard.

Sasuke was not used to being wrong. Or at least, not this wrong.

Kakashi immediately staggered to his knees, dizzy from sudden blood loss by nosebleed. Unfortunately, this position gave him the perspective to look under the strategically placed clouds. That was the knockout blow that sent him crashing to the ground, mask soaked with blood and drool. He looked to be in danger of accidentally waterboarding himself, something Sasuke was starting to think wouldn’t be such a bad thing.

The whole fiasco was more than a bit disappointing, but perhaps Sasuke should’ve predicted this. After all, their teacher was perverted enough to read trashy erotica in public, perhaps he should’ve guessed that Kakashi was perverted enough to fall apart at the sight of a naked woman. At the very least, Sakura wouldn’t be so foolish. He turned to his teammate, hoping to quickly formulate a plan. Clearly, he didn’t hope hard enough.

Sakura had both hands slapped over a cherry-red face. It would seem very innocent, if it weren’t for the fact that she kept taking peeks through splayed fingers. Sakura would take greedy glimpses of the blonde beauty, before finding her sense of decency and snapping her fingers shut. 

“C-c-c-cover up, damnit! D-don’t you have any shame?”

Sasuke could ask her the same thing. He could practically see the steam coming out of the flustered girl’s ears, her large forehead likely hotter than the grill at Ichiraku. Now, there wasn’t time to unpack all that, because their thief was getting away. A puff of smoke returned those pigtails back to the unstyled mane to before. Their thief scuttled off like a bat out of hell, having apparently lost no chakra from crafting such a lifelike disguise. The dress was clamped in their jaw, something Sakura would’ve surely protested if she wasn’t catatonic. They had changed their stance to running on all fours, like some sort of canine. The position should’ve been awkward with human proportions, but it looked weirdly natural, even more so than that Inuzuka bastard. It was like watching the difference between a trained dog and a wild animal, motivated to move only by instinct.

There wasn’t time to marvel, because the thief was scrambling up a large tree, almost faster than if they were using chakra to run.

“Damnit!” For once, his teammates weren’t able to give him shit about cursing, which he was grateful for. He needed every ounce of concentration to pull this off. He pulled two knives from his weapons pouch, tied to to two compact spools of wire, hundreds of yards long. He didn’t take a deep breath to steady himself, because that would take too much time, and this was all about the proper timing. But when he threw his knives, his mind was serene all the same, eyes fixed on his targets.

The knives were not intended to wound, as any ninja worth his salt would continue to move after being hit with just one or two knives. Rather, they were simply weights to help cast his wire properly. The first knife hit the tree trunk at an angle and bounced, gravity and momentum looping wire around one small ankle. It was as perfect as his brother had taught him, like snagging a fish on a line. He yanked on the wire with one hand, intent on reeling his prize in. With the other, he threw the second knife. It was a tricky thing, understanding the paths spinning weapons would take, the force needed, how to account for three dozen different factors at once. But even if his sharingan was practically unusable, and his swordsmanship was far too green for his or Kakashi’s tastes, Sasuke could proudly say that this was a skill he’d trained to jounin-level expertise, without using so much as an ounce of chakra.

In seconds, their thief was sitting at the roots of the tree, wire wrapping them tightly to its trunk. Sakura’s dress fluttered to the ground like an enormous red bird. Sasuke approached slowly, with just a touch of cautiousness. He drew his sword from the sheath on his back, and put on his most intimidating glare in preparation for the interrogation. He leveled the tip of his blade at the throat in the same moment the captive looked up.

Sasuke froze.

What had he expected? He didn’t know. But whatever his assumptions were, he wasn’t prepared for two enormous and shockingly blue eyes in the middle of a dirt streaked face that couldn’t be mistaken for anything but a child. Or at the very least, no person older than him and Sakura.

Despite the dirt on their face, Sasuke couldn’t exactly call the thief entirely grubby. Their long blond hair was just as clean and bright a yellow as originally thought, and more fluffy than tangled. The two swipes of rusty brown dirt seemed deliberate by comparison, like face paint.

Though Sasuke took note of these superficial details, they weren’t what caught his attention. Rather, it was their expression. Sasuke wasn’t exactly a genius when it came to reading people, but his prisoner’s emotions were shown openly on his face. He was mistrustful and afraid, and attempting to hide it, albeit poorly. It looked as if he was trying to disguise his weaknesses as any captured enemy would, only, he had never been taught how to lie properly. Sasuke regained his composure, and steadied his sword before clearing his throat.

“Alright. Who do you work f-“ he was interrupted by a weight of a hand pressing down on his shoulder.

“She’s just a little girl,” said Sakura over his shoulder, sounding awed, and slightly disappointed. Sasuke guessed that she had wanted a captive she could take her anger out on. Said captive glared at her with all the threatening power of a kitten.

“I’m not little!” This was an objective falsehood. This thief was no taller than Sakura, and considerably skinnier. They continued in a calmer tone, marginally quieter.

“And I’m not a girl either,” he said, surly.

“Oh. Sorry,” she said, suddenly contrite. That is, until she remembered how they got there.

“Wait, why am I apologizing? You’re the one that tried to steal my clothes, you sneaky son of a bitch!” She grabbed said clothes, roughly folded the fabric, and shoved it under her arm. Surprisingly, the boy looked away guiltily. Sasuke couldn’t help but feel a touch annoyed that she was derailing his interrogation. And by a touch, he meant a lot.

“Who cares about the dumb dress! Who are you, and who do you hrggkk-“

His words were choked when a second, much heavier weight came down on his other shoulder.

“Now, now,” said Kakashi, using his student’s shoulder to pull himself up. He almost pushed Sasuke over while he was at it, something the boy was certain his teacher did on purpose. 

“Let’s not be too hasty, Sakura. Look at what he’s wearing right now. He probably took it out of necessity.”

All three of them took another look. The blond boy was wearing an enormous black long sleeved shirt. It was long enough that it covered his knees, remaining modest despite the fact that he didn’t seem to be wearing anything else. It was in poor condition as well, stained with dirt and grass and stiff along the front with something Sasuke could tentatively identify as dried blood. The stitches hemming the sleeves had degraded, causing the fabric to fray where it dangled over his fingers, black with dirt. The boy squirmed under their scrutiny, his teeth bared in a snarl.

“Oh,” said Sakura, once again remorseful and sympathetic. Sasuke ground his teeth together. Everyone kept ignoring the possible threat here, and it was pissing him off.

“What if he’s an enemy spy?”

“You really believe that?” Kakashi conveyed an overwhelming amount of condescension with just one eye. Sasuke felt heat creep up the back of his neck in spite of himself.

“He could be a scout working with an invading village!”

“Hey!” The boy shouted, glaring up at them with new intensity. “I would rather die than work with any of the village bastards!”

Kakashi shrugged and gestured to the captive.

“You heard the kid.”

Sasuke seethed. Though evidence was flimsy in either direction, it appeared that his theory of Konoha being under attack was being undermined. Kakashi clapped his hands once, pulling together a cheery expression with only one fifth of his face showing.

“Alright, now that we’ve decided not to torture him,” he said, oblivious to the way their thief stiffened in fear. “Let’s introduce ourselves. Sakura, you go first.”

“Oh. Alright then.” She blushed, and Sasuke had a horrible flashback to the first time they met as a group.

“I’m Sakura Haruno, fourteen years old and a rookie genin of Konoha. My personal goal is to become a full time apprentice under Lady Fifth, and prove how strong I can be without coming from a big clan with some stupid family technique.” As she went on talking, she became progressively more aggressive, gesturing pointedly with fists.

Sasuke raised his eyebrows. Even though he knew Sakura had gotten serious about being a ninja, he’d never known she held a complex over being the only civilian in their graduating class. Nor had he ever heard of her ambition to apprentice with Lady Tsunade. It made a surprising amount of sense. The Hokage brought in after the Third retired was as strong as they came, a ninja powerhouse, especially in comparison to the sad old man that preceded her. Sasuke knew that his brother respected her, meaning that she was truly someone worthy of their title. He could see how Sakura would admire that. From what he’d seen of Lady Tsunade, she also had the unique ability to go from calm and dignified to raging in under five seconds. Maybe they were long lost relatives…oh wait, Sakura wasn’t done yet. She’d gone back to her cutesy-yet-cordial introduction tone, smiling sweetly.

“I have a lot of different interests, but if I had to pick my favorite thing, I’d say that I really like flowers!”

Sasuke scoffed at the statement.

“Yeah, right. If by “flowers” you mean “loitering around the Yamanaka’s store while flirting with the shopgirl”.”

Really, Sasuke should’ve seen her fist coming from a mile away. But he didn’t, and got sucker punched in the gut. He curled in on himself, certain Sakura’s knuckles had brushed his spine.

“It’s not loitering if she invites me, jerk! And I  _ don’t  _ flirt with Ino!” she screeched, face bright red. She looked like she would’ve attacked her teammate out of embarrassment some more if it weren’t for Kakashi stepping in.

“All right, Sakura, that was an excellent introduction. You really encapsulated your personality in just a few seconds. Now, Sasuke, it’s your turn.”

Sasuke caught his breath just in time to protest this.

“There’s no way in hell I’m going to go through your stupid introduction a second time!”

Kakashi leaned in, eye narrowed dangerously. His hand hovered over his headband, as if to expose his sharingan.

“What was that, Sasuke? I didn’t quite hear you. Why don’t you try that again? This time, you’d best make certain that’s what you really,  _ truly _ , want to say right now.” His voice was a low, sinister thing, making the vague threat all too clear. Sasuke considered his options. His forehead prickled, threatening sweat. His pulse thudded in his veins. The answer was clear.

“Sasuke Uchiha. Fourteen years old. Genin rank. I like training and sharpening my knives.” His words were stiff, his sentences clipped short. Despite the effort, Kakashi didn’t let up. It was clear he wanted Sasuke to follow Sakura’s example. He grit his teeth.

“My goal is to become a strong shinobi the Uchiha clan can be proud of.”

The clan only had one other member, but he didn’t have to mention that. Kakashi smiled, satisfied.

“Good job, Sasuke. That wasn’t too bad, now, was it?” 

He turned and crouched before the captive.

“Now that we’ve introduced ourselves, won’t you do the same?”

The boy was looking more confused than afraid now, if still wary. Sasuke supposed it was hard to be afraid of a trio that bickered like children.

“My name’s Naru-“

He broke off into to a harsh coughing fit, shoulders shaking with the force of it. Sakura moved forward, her hands hovering about, unsure what to do. At the same time, Kakashi stood straight up, as if struck by lightning. That was the first hint that something very strange was going on. Kakashi’s trademark laidback air was gone, replaced by an odd tenseness. The man collected himself. Despite clearing his throat, his voice still sounded off kilter and strained.

“S-sorry, I didn’t quite catch that. Could you repeat that for me?”

“Narutaro! That’s my name!” The boy, “Narutaro”, laughed, a little desperately, a little nervously. “My name’s Narutaro.”

Sasuke instantly knew that that was complete and utter bullshit. That was a fake name if there ever was one, and he wasn’t afraid to say it.

“Bullsh-“

Maybe he should’ve been a little afraid, because Sakura cuffed him on the back of the head before he could even finish. It wasn’t nearly hard enough to hurt, but it knocked his skull around enough to cut him off.

“Narutaro, huh? That’s very unique. Is it a family name?”

Sasuke couldn’t tell if his teammate’s sympathetic attitude was an attempt to coax information out or genuine interest, and if was pissing him off. “Narutaro” held no such qualms, possibly too dumb to mistrust her, or very good at playing the fool.

“I don’t have a family.” He was shockingly blunt about it, though that he was an orphan was in an of itself hardly a surprise. The world they lived in was a harsh one, after all.

“Then what village do you belong to?” There were other, smaller settlements in the fire country besides Konoha, Sasuke knew. However, “Narutaro” practically hissed at his words, and Sasuke was surprised his hair didn’t stand up like a cat’s.

“I don’t need any dumb village,” he said, an odd conviction in his voice. Kakashi held his hands up in a placating gesture.

“Alright, alright, I’m sure you can take care of yourself.”

“You’re damn right I can!” The boy preened and puffed his chest out proudly. Sasuke wanted to hit himself in the face, just seeing how gullible the kid was, won over by the slightest hint of praise.

“How long have you been on your own, Narutaro?”

“Eight whole winters,” he declared, beaming with pride. That is, until his whole face went white as bone.

“I wasn’t supposed to tell you that,” he said, stricken.

“Why not?” Sasuke was back on full alert. There was clearly more to this thief than met the eye, and he wasn’t about to let him get the drop on him.

“Kakashi?” Sakura sounded worried, prompting Sasuke to look around. Their teacher had a mad look in his one dark eye, scarcely blinking. His expression gave nothing away, save for a single minded intensity towards their prisoner. Suddenly, he twisted around, hiding his face from them. There was the rustle of fabric, and Sasuke had to resist the urge to try and look at Kakashi’s unmasked face. Then there was the unmistakable sound of someone working up a wad of saliva and spitting it out.

“Kakashi?” Both Sakura and Sasuke took a reflexive half step backwards. Their teacher was acting strange, even more so than usual.

The man did not answer, only turned around again. His right sleeve was distinctly wet, and pulled over his palm, which he brandished ahead of himself. Sasuke felt the tension mount. The prisoner was starting to squirm, nervous.

“H-hey now, wh-what are you trying to do?”

Kakashi pounced. His left hand grabbed the boy’s jaw, while the other began methodically scrubbing at the rusty mess on his cheek with his saliva soaked cloth. Predictably, Sakura immediately screeched.

“That’s disgusting!”

Sasuke felt the same, but he was more concerned their instructor had finally lost it. The other boy was obviously upset, writhing and kicking at the man’s abdomen.

“No! You can’t see my face! He said so! Stop it, you bastard!”

Sasuke thought for a second that those kicks had connected, because Kakashi suddenly fell flat on his ass. Only, his eye was completely fixed on the boy’s face. 

There, underneath the smeared mess, were three thin scars. Like whiskers, he noted absently. The boy was scared, obviously, but it paled in comparison to Kakashi.

The man was frozen, his one dark eye wide with shock. The heel of his hand was pressed to his temple, fingers fisted in his coarse hair tight enough to hurt. Though most of his face was covered with cloth, what was visible clearly conveyed a sense of visceral horror.

“Oh god,” he whispered, sounding as if on the edge of crying.

Kakashi didn’t cry. He was an elite jounin of Konoha. He was battle hardened and unflappable, completely desensitized to any sort of loss. He was more than cool under pressure; he was ice. Their teacher was the toughest in the village save for the Hokage herself. He could deal and withstand massive amounts of damage without so much as a grunt of pain. He was one of the only two masters of the sharingan in existence. For all he might outwardly imply, Sasuke knew how powerful Kakashi could be. He wasn’t supposed to look this...broken.

Sasuke turned to their prisoner, who had so easily disabled their teacher. He raised his sword once more, a sense of urgency fueling him. If the boy had cast an illusion, he had to break it as soon as possible.

“What did you just do to him?” Sasuke’s voice wasn’t ice, for ice was far too brittle; it was flame, tightly concentrated to a sapphire edge.

The tip of his blade froze scarcely a finger’s breadth from his throat, so close to that wildly beating pulse. The boy glared back up at him all the same, terrified and defiant and confused all at once. Vaguely aware that the boy could be casting an illusion at that very moment, Sasuke could not bring himself to look away from those enormous blue eyes.

Questions swirled through his mind. Who was their captive really? What did those scars mean? Why was a child living alone in the woods for almost a decade? How? Most importantly, why did Kakashi react so dramatically to him?

His eyes burned even as he stared, as if by refusing to blink he would find answers. He desperately wanted, no,  _ needed _ to see why this boy was so special. He needed to see the truth with his own two eyes.

Suddenly, horror dawned in those startlingly blue eyes. Those features, once so stubborn, shifted into abject fear. His bare heels dug into the dirt, attempting to push himself away from Sasuke, but only succeeding in flattening against the tree trunk. His head shook wildly, the universal sign of rejection against what was before him. His eyes were squeezed shut, and Sasuke could swear there were tears.

“Nonononono! You can’t take him away from me!”

His hands, bound to his sides, began to tug frantically at the wires that held him. The metal threads were razor sharp, and cut dripping red lines across his palms.

“Stop that, you’re going to hurt yourself!”

Sakura fell to her knees, grabbing the boy’s wrists in an attempt to prevent further injury. Unfortunately, this only caused him to struggle more violently. Through a combination of fear, adrenaline, and wiry muscle, he was incredibly strong, to the point Sakura was having difficulty holding him down, even with the aid of chakra to her arms and core. Sasuke stood still, his sword drooping to the forest floor lamely. He had very rarely felt so far out of his element, so wholeheartedly confused. Why was Kakashi suddenly catatonic? Why had the boy gone from apprehensive to screaming in a single instant? Was any part of his story true? If so, why would someone abandon a toddler in a forest? How had he survived? Where had he learned his techniques? Why couldn’t Sasuke look away?

“What are you doing? Help me!” Sakura turned to him, irate, only to gasp in surprise.

“Sasuke…”

“What?”

“Your eyes,” she said, gesturing with one hand.

Sasuke reacted immediately, hand reaching up to touch his face. It wasn’t as if he could feel the sharingan in his eye sockets, but he did so anyways. He felt...different, but not in any way he could describe. His vision was sharper, the dim forest brighter.

“Is it really there?”

Between his divided attention and Sakura’s loosened grip, their captive saw his chance. One second he was there, the next, a cloud of scentless smoke and a gust of air. The wire went slack without any body to hold, Sasuke’s work gone to waste. 

Out of the corner of his eye, almost too fast to see, there was an orange blur. Sasuke caught little more than the flick of a tail and the black pads on the bottom of a small paw. Another illusion, he realised. He lunged forward immediately. He was certain that with the aid of the sharingan, he could catch the thief. The muscles of his legs bunched up, ready to launch him forward, only for a large hand to wrap about his wrist. Kakashi tugged him backwards and off balance, onto the ground.

“What are you doing? He’s getting away.”

“No,” he said plainly.

“What do you mean, “no”? He’s obviously hiding something! He could be a-“

“I said  _ no _ .” Kakashi’s voice was a deep, stern growl, before mellowing into something soft and defeated.

“We can’t hurt him any more than we already have.” He was almost pleading, with the desperate way he spoke. Sasuke was certain there was a hidden meaning behind his words.

His grip grew slack, but Sasuke didn’t jerk away to continue his pursuit. If nothing else, he could recognize how strongly Kakashi felt about it, and held himself back. Besides, that mystery child was not the only source of secrets.

“Let’s go break camp. If we start moving now we can reach Konoha by daybreak.”

“It’s the middle of the night.”

“Excellent observation, Sasuke. Very astute,” he said, bitter sarcasm biting deeper than Sasuke thought it could. However, he soon looked remorseful.

“You won’t always have the luxury of resting in one place for hours at a time, and a ninja’s best work is done under cover of darkness. Think of this as training.”

Kakashi almost stumbled upon standing, another alarming detail, before setting off at a brisk walk. His students trailed behind, unsatisfied but forced to settle for Kakashi’s excuse. 

“Sasuke?”

Sakura’s voice was steady, neither a whisper nor a shout.

“Your sharingan saw everything, right?”

“Yeah.”

“So what was it?” The vague question had only one answer.

“A fox,” he said, looking behind himself into the green, swaying leaves. “Just a fox.”  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The plot thickens.


	3. Kakashi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> KAKASHI thinks he might be the first man on the face of the earth to die of shame.

Kakashi was finally losing it. Sure, he was functioning properly in the barest sense of the word, breathing and moving, but that was it. He may have brought his students safely back to the village and sent them back to their families, he may have reported to Tsunade without incident, and he may have returned to his own quiet apartment, but his thoughts were miles away. He was stuck in that forest, looking into enormous blue eyes.

Naruto was far too small for a boy almost fourteen years of age. His cheeks had been covered with a mix of animal blood and dirt. His childlike fingers were black with soil. He was dressed in rags, scavenged from other travelers.

But he was alive. 

He was alive and Kakashi had done nothing for him whatsoever. He’d been living in the woods, like an animal, since he was barely old enough to be an academy student. He was halfway feral.

But he was alive. Minato’s son was alive.

And yes, to think of the child only as his father’s son was unfair. And yes, it was probably the last thing Minato would want for Naruto. And yes, he felt guilty about it, but to be honest, that was only one drop in the ocean that was his swirling, guilt ridden mind.

How had he survived? Who had taught him to change his physical form so easily? What the hell happened in the past eight years?

He was going to drive himself crazy with all these questions. Now was time to act, and Kakashi Hatake was nothing if not a man of action.

…some of the time.

Oh, the guilt was back again.

Kakashi mentally and physically slapped himself, which probably wasn’t deterring the slow slide into craziness. But he needed to  _ think _ . What did every child need? Food, water, shelter, clothing. Wait, did clothing count as shelter? Kakashi decided it didn’t matter, he’d make sure he covered all his bases anyways.

With priorities outlined, he continued planning. Textiles could be acquired first, followed by perishables. Something that could be cooked easily enough, along with something more shelf stable, of course. Without conserving chakra for a speedy return trip, he could be in the general vicinity as the camp they had made yesterday evening within an hour or two. He likely wouldn’t be able to leave the village until the next day, but it wasn’t the end of the world. Despite the sensitive nature of the situation, it gave him time for the two most important parts of the ninja process: preparation and information gathering.

For once, Kakashi was right on time to meet Sasuke and Sakura at training ground thirteen. Only, they had no idea he would be coming.

It wasn’t hard to find them, as they weren’t exactly being quiet. Kakashi settled in at the tree line upon arrival to watch, and, in spite of himself, wished he’d brought some popcorn or something.

“Get back here!”

Sakura lunged forward, limbs swinging in a series of attacks. It was plain to see the force behind each attempted blow, aided by advanced chakra molding as well as traditionally built muscle. Each hit could have easily leveled a grown man, provided they connected. But to a trained eye such as Kakashi’s, her advance was clearly hampered by wasted motion; her punches weren’t controlled enough in their range, and she twisted her torso too much on the follow through. Those extra milliseconds of reset time between attacks were crucial, allowing opponents to evade her.

Even so, it clearly took all of Sasuke’s attention to leverage that miniscule delay, something that would be impossible for most ninja, leaving him not so much as and opening to draw his sword. He bobbed and weaved through every thrust of Sakura’s small fists, an intense look of concentration on his face. Startlingly enough, Kakashi could see flashes of red in his eyes, the sharingan flicking on and off like a faulty light bulb. He dodged every potentially devastating blow, something Sakura was clearly growing frustrated with.

“When are you going to stop dancing and fight me like a man?”

Sasuke growled, stepping into the clumsily baited trap. He stepped forward with the intent to strike back. Immediately, Sakura leveraged his poorly made decision to slap him full across the face.

The effect was devastating. The impact knocked Sasuke clean off his feet, sending him rolling across the ground. Kakashi winced, sucking a sympathetic breath through his teeth. Sakura straightened, punching the air victoriously.

“Hell yeah!”

This was a textbook example of celebrating too early. While Sakura outclassed her teammate in close quarters hand to hand, ranged attacks were where Sasuke shined. Almost the instant the boy rolled to a stop, a knife shot out, attached to a wire thinner than human hair. It threaded about her ankles before going taut, yanking her off her feet.

Sasuke found his bearings at the same time, standing and drawing his sword. He stalked forward with steady, self assured steps. He cut an imposing figure, dressed in long black pants and wide collared shirt, the only spot of color on his outfit being the red and white Uchiha fan. With every passing day, he looked more like his brother. He had gained a not-insignificant number of inches over his past year under Kakashi’s teaching, leaving him taller than most other boys his age. It reminded Kakashi that his student was growing up quickly, even if it was near impossible to see him as anything but a small child. He even had a chance of reaching Chunin rank with Sakura after their first exams, provided they learned an elemental technique or two to round out their skill set.

As talented as he was, it was easy to see Sasuke’s flaws when up close. It was especially clear in a bout such as this. Sasuke approached his opponent as if he’d already won, clearly intending to use his sword to force Sakura to concede. In short, he underestimated her greatly.

Sakura’s next move was shocking, a thing of beauty in its simplicity. Kakashi felt his eye open wide in surprise looking at it. The girl gathered massive amounts of chakra in her fist, condensing it into a rock hard gauntlet. With a bellow of determination, she drove her knuckles into the ground.

The dirt practically became liquid under her touch. The shockwave spread outward like ripples in a pond, fracturing the earth. In an instant, the entire landscape within a fifteen foot radius of Sakura was changed. Entire sections of the training ground were completely overturned. Kakashi’s mouth hung open under his mask, momentarily distracting him from his mission 

When the dust settled, two Genin lay on the ground, breathing heavily.

“Truce?” offered Sakura, practical as usual.

“Truce,” Sasuke grumbled, likely seeing it to be just as bad as defeat. Kakashi decided then to make his appearance.

“Hello, my cute little students. I see you two had a bit of a spat,” he said, cheerily enough to piss them both off. It was a testament to how tired they were in that neither of them jumped at his sudden appearance.

“What do you want?” groaned Sasuke, perfectly monotone. Kakashi supposed that wasn’t an entirely unfair reaction. After all, his sudden presence usually meant grueling training exercises or menial D-rank missions.

“Don’t be like that. Can’t a teacher simply check up on his students’ progress?”

“No.” It was scary how they would answer in sync sometimes.

“Talk about a couple of ungrateful teenagers. I could give you two some pointers, you know. Improve your skills and all that.” He waved a hand vaguely.

“Is that why you’re here?”

“Weeeeellllll, not exactly.”

“Knew it,” muttered Sakura. Kakashi decided to ignore it.

“I actually have a few questions for the two of you.”

His students sat up, wary but intrigued.

“First off, I need your heights.”

“Five seven.” Sasuke eyed him suspiciously as he answered.

“Five six and a quarter.”

“Shoe sizes?”

“Size nine.”

“Women’s eight. Why do you need to know?”

“None of your business,” he answered blithely. “Wing span?”

“What am I, a chicken? There’s no way I’d know that off the top of my head. And don’t brush me off like that.”

Uh oh. Sakura was getting testy. 

“If you’re bothering to get our help, shouldn’t we know what for?”

It was just Kakashi’s luck that it wasn’t in his students’ nature to simply do as told without getting curious. Luckily, Kakashi was excellent at ignoring questions he didn’t want to answer.

“Inseam?” He asked.

“I’m not answering that,” said Sasuke, voice practically venomous. Even without the sharingan, the boy could be intimidating. Kakashi was certain an affinity for the dramatic ran in the Uchiha bloodline, if Sasuke’s older brother was any indication.

“Are you buying us clothes or something? Because, for the record, I don’t trust your fashion sense in the slightest,” said Sakura.

“Ouch. And no, don’t be expecting any gifts. I’m not buying any clothes.”  _ For you two, at least. _

“Then why the hell—“

“I wanted to give your measurements to the casket maker, just in case the Chuunin exams don’t end well for you.” It was only half a lie. The exams could be dangerous to even the most talented of Genin.

“You’re signing us up for the Chuunin exams?” Both students had dropped their earlier suspicions in favor of shock and excitement. Abruptly, Kakashi realized he wasn’t supposed to tell them that until later.

“Maybe,” he said, a little too quickly to be nonchalant. He decided to change the subject.

“Say, Sakura, shouldn’t you see a medic about your hand? You might’ve broken something with that last stunt.”

“I’m fine.” In an effort to prove this, Sakura flexed the fingers of her heavily bruised hand, and looked as if she immediately regretted it. Kakashi decided to continue as if she’d said nothing.

“Flashy, impressive moves like that are all well and good, but not if they leave parts of your body useless.”

“My hand works just fine,” she protested. Then, in a softer tone: “You think that was impressive?”

“Very. Still, you shouldn’t use it until you have a good enough handle on using chakra to support your skeletal system. In the meantime, take that to Lady Tsunade.”

Sakura’s eyes bugged out, her expression incredulous. Sasuke reacted similarly, but with a little more subtlety.

“You want me to bother the Hokage with a minor injury like this?”

“Well, I also wanted you to deliver  _ this. _ ” He produced a scroll, lazily dangling between his fingertips. Sakura eyed it, intrigued but wary.

“You want me to be your messenger?”

“Mm, you could say that.”

“Too lazy to get it to her herself?”

“You cut deep, Sakura. But I insist.”

“Fine,” she said, grabbing and pocketing the scroll with her uninjured hand. Kakashi smirked. His student wouldn’t be so unenthusiastic if she knew what the scroll contained. Before their last mission, Kakashi had drafted the letter of recommendation, requesting that Tsunade mentor the girl in medical and advanced chakra techniques. It wasn’t guaranteed she would accept, but even a teacher such as Kakashi had a reputation of serving the village that tipped the odds in his favor. It helped that his letter was completely sincere. Coming from a man that went out of his way to be completely apathetic in his everyday life, that meant quite a bit.

“Thank you very much,” he said, waving a jaunty goodbye and turning to go.”

“Wait, that’s it?” Sasuke looked distinctly disgruntled by the interaction. Kakashi tilted his head thoughtfully.

“Yep,” he said with a pop of his lips, before reconsidering. “Actually, our meeting tomorrow is canceled.”

“What, why?”

“Does it matter? Just be glad there won’t be any D-ranks. Bye for now!”

“Wait-“

But Kakashi was already gone, determined to get done with his shopping before the department store closed.

Kakashi left a little after dawn the next day, a pack full of sealing scrolls with him. His nerves were jittery, with pretty much the only thing keeping him together being the opportunity to push his energy into his legs.

He reached the day old camping spot by mid morning, with the remains of an extinguished campfire and and faint markings in the dust. Next came the uncertain part.

“Naruto!”

He yelled into the woods, which unfortunately did not answer back. He wandered by the river, repeating his call, as loud as he could. It was a touch humiliating. After all, ninjas were not in the habit of wandering, or disclosing their location at all. However, his embarrassment was rewarded, thirty minutes into this endeavor. Out of the corner of his eyes, he occasionally saw flickers of orange movement. They were too fast and too frequent to be an animal, or at least not an ordinary one. He pretended not to see, but to his borderline panicked impatience, Naruto did not reveal himself.

So instead, Kakashi hatched a plan.

He sat down in a clearing not too far from the river, amongst scratchy drying grass and the last wildflowers of summer. He produced a scroll from his pack, unrolling it with a dramatic flourish. A puff of smoke later and there was a camp stove, topped with a pot of boiling water. Next went the noodles, the brittle square as white as bone. Kakashi stirred the pot absentmindedly, only a fraction of his mind focused on the separating noodles. His senses were trained on the woods around him, listening for the slightest change.

By the time he ripped open the seasoning packet, releasing the chemical approximation of roasted chicken into the water, Kakashi knew he’d piqued Naruto’s interest. Ramen had been the six-year-old’s favorite food, once upon a time. Kakashi had kept watch over countless lunches Naruto had attended at Ichiraku with Lord Third in tow. Maybe it was wishful thinking that the Naruto of today retained any of the personality Kakashi knew, but the man had no idea what else to do.

Kakashi stirred the preservative laden soup and brought a bite inches away from his mouth. The sound of a growling stomach echoed around the clearing, and it certainly wasn’t his. He cleared his throat, desperately trying not to laugh.

“Care to join me?”

Naruto slunk out of the undergrowth, simultaneously sheepish and highly suspicious. He crouched low to the ground, an odd mix of animal and boy. He was still small, still grubby, and by the look on his face, incredibly hungry.

“You’re the weird guy from yesterday,” he stated bluntly, his tone making it clear he didn’t trust the stranger one inch. Kakashi winced, before steadying himself. In order to gain trust, he had to show a little himself. It sounded like something Minato would say, which was either a good sign or a really bad one. With a deep breath, Kakashi reached up and tugged his mask down. His face felt cool, and he briefly feared the thought of having some very strange tan lines.

“My name is Kakashi Hatake, and people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to balance out Sasuke and Sakura’s skill set, with Sakura’s chakra control versus Sasuke’s weapons accuracy and elemental techniques (I don’t think he’d use something as dangerous as fire breathing or the chidori in a practice match). Did it work?

**Author's Note:**

> I fully intend to finish every story i start, even if I’ve never watched a single episode of Naruto.


End file.
